Introduction

This is a more classic rub, mainly for pork and chicken although it can be used for any meat. The amount of sugar is a little controversial but the purpose is not really crust-development so much as balance. You can pretty much blanket-cover with this stuff and you won't over-season because of the level of sugar to salt. Also it's delicious. You can use it on any vegetable side or your mac and cheese. It goes into my chicken-fried steak batter, and I've eaten it served on ice cream. The basic sugar to salt ratio is what's fundamental - the rest of the ingredients are just flavour accents, so feel free to play around with the spices and herbs. If you do want to reduce the sugar, be careful not to overdo it. These quantities make lots but it will keep for months if not years.

Ingredients

125g

Maldon salt, pulsed in a blender until looser but still a little rough

100g

coarsely cracked black pepper

25g

garlic salt

150g

dark soft brown sugar

150g

caster sugar

75g

paprika

For the spices:

5g

cumin seeds

5g

caraway seeds

10g

fennel seeds

5g

coriander

2

bay leaves

Essential kit

You will need a spice grinder or a pestle and mortar.

Instructions

1. Toast the spices in a dry pan, then blitz in a spice grinder or with a pestle and mortar until roughly ground. Mix with all the other ingredients and store in a tightly covered container. You can keep this in a cool, dark palce pretty much as long as you like.